Series Information: Sherlock Holmes

The accepted Sherlock Holmes canon consists of a series of writings by Dr. John Watson concerning the cases of his friend Sherlock Holmes, the great consulting detective, published between 1887 and 1927 by Arthur Conan Doyle (later Sir Arthur) as Watson's agent. Doyle is popularly supposed to be the author of the stories; there are even those who, knowing their true authorship, insist that Watson's accounts are in fact works of fiction penned by Doyle. This theory requires no more notice than we shall give it here. An informally organized group called the Baker Street Irregulars (named after a group of London street urchins employed by Holmes as intelligence agents) devotes generous amounts of time to investigation of seeming irregularities in Sherlock Holmes stories published by Doyle and others. (The first formal Baker Street Irregulars society was organized, not in London as one might suppose, but in New York City in 1933 or '34 [accounts differ] by noted literary figure Christopher Morley.) A number of Sherlock Holmes tales have been published by people other than Doyle; a few of these are arguably the work of Watson, others of more doubtful authenticity. No non-Doyle works, however, have been admitted into the accepted canon.